Revised 4/2003

School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida

Dr. Michael M. Krop, ChairDr. Robert B. Ingram, Vice Chair

Mr. Agustin J. Barrera

Mr. Frank J. Bolaños

Mr. Frank J. Cobo

Ms. Perla Tabares Hantman

Ms. Betsy H. Kaplan

Dr. Marta Pérez

Dr. Solomon C. Stinson

Ms. Hali Cooperman-Dix

Student Advisor

Mr. Merrett R. Stierheim

Superintendent of Schools

Mr. George Balsa, Assistant Superintendent

Office of Performance Improvement

Dr. Eduardo R. Rivas, Administrative Director

Office of Performance Improvement

The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida

1450 N.E. 2 Avenue

Miami, FL 33132

Revised 4/2003

Revised 4/2003

Division of School Quality Improvement

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Educational Excellence School Advisory Councils

The concept of the Educational Excellence School Advisory Council was first written into

Florida state law in 1991, as part of the Blueprint 2000 plan for education reform and

accountability. At the time, School Advisory Councils were entrusted with assisting in the

development of the School Improvement Plan. The School Board of Dade County,

Florida, embraced these state mandated bodies. In a “Memorandum of Understanding”

with United Teachers of Dade adopted in 1996, the School Board renamed the School

Advisory Councils Educational Excellence Councils and authorized them to provide all

stakeholders with a role in decision-making which impacts instruction and the delivery of

educational programs. The Educational Excellence Councils were renamed Educational

Excellence School Advisory Councils (EESACs) in 1999, when Blueprint 2000 was

revised to become Florida’s High Quality Education System. At that time, the Councils

were also charged with assisting the principal in the development of the school

improvement plan as well as the school’s budget.

Today the Educational Excellence School Advisory Councils are the sole body

responsible for final decision-making in guiding school improvement and maintaining

accountability. This authority is delineated in Florida Statute 1001.452, in Miami-Dade

County School Board Rule 6Gx13- 1B-1.031, and in the Miami-Dade County Public

Schools/United Teachers of Dade Contract, Article XXVI, Section 5. This compilation of

procedures and best practices is designed to guide Educational Excellence School

Advisory Councils in effectively serving their schools.

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1. BYLAWS

� Provide clear, concise language to describe how an EESAC will function.

� Support State Law, School Board Rule, and UTD contract.

� Must be available to the public.

� Establish terms of service.

� Define a quorum or the number of members needed in order to conduct

business.

� Define the decision making process.

� Define election guidelines, including a procedure to fill vacancies.

� Must include language required by Florida law, i.e., Any member who has

two consecutive unexcused absences from Council meetings shall be

considered to have resigned and must be replaced following

election/selection procedures outlined in these bylaws. A majority of the

voting members of the Council shall constitute a quorum; a quorum must be

present before a vote can be taken. All EESAC members must receive at

least 3-days advance notice in writing of any matter that is scheduled to

come before the Council for a vote. All meetings will be held at a time that

is convenient to parents, students, teachers, and business community

representatives. Minutes must be kept for all meetings.

A. Minutes

� Must be kept for all EESAC meetings by a designated member of the

EESAC.

� Must be distributed to all EESAC members and alternates and made

available to the school community.

� Once approved by the EESAC, are public records, and must be maintained

on a permanent basis at a place accessible to the public.

� May be posted on an interim basis as temporary, hand-written notes until

approved minutes are available.

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� Must be posted online following procedures developed by the Department of

Quality Enhancement Services. Once approved by the EESAC, the online

minutes must also be corrected and verified by the principal.

B. Rosters

� Are an official snapshot of the EESAC’s membership presented to the School

Board on an annual basis.

� Are revised annually in the fall; all elections must be completed by the first

week of September.

� Should be revised, on an interim basis, to reflect all membership changes.

� Unless a request for a change in composition has been submitted to the

EESAC Support Committee and approved, should be composed of AT

LEAST: 5 teachers, 1 alternate teacher, the UTD designated steward, 4

parents, 1 alternate parent, 1 student, 1 alternate student, 1 support

employee, 1 alternate support employee, 1 business/community

representative, and the principal. Schools which combine a K-12 program

with an adult vocational program must also include an adult school principal,

teacher, and student. Stand alone adult schools do not have to include

parents.

� Must ALSO list enough parents, business/community representatives, and/or

students so that the majority (1 more than half) of the members do not work

at the school. Typically, this number is three additional members. Some

EESACs will require more.

� May list the PTA/PTSA President as a named member of the EESAC; if this

is the EESAC’s decision, it must be listed in the bylaws.

� Must demonstrate that the EESAC is reflective of the ethnic, racial, linguistic,

disabled, and economic community served by the school.

� Must include representatives (parents, teaches or administrators) of students

with disabilities.

� Must equitably involve the parents of LEP students.

� Must include a student representative at all schools except elementaries

which do not have a 5th or 6th grade. W hile it is appropriate to include more

than one student at the secondary level, it is not recommended at the

elementary level.

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� Must be verified online by the principal and by the EESAC chair, using

verification codes supplied by the Office of Performance Improvement.

C. Meetings

� Must be scheduled at times that are convenient for ALL EESAC members

and their alternates.

� Are open to the public; all stakeholders are welcome to attend.

� W ill be held regularly throughout the year; the EESAC will determine when,

where, and how often to meet.

� Must be advertised, following M-DCPS procedures, at least five (5) working

days in advance.

� Must be conducted in a professional manner allowing members, who are

there representing their constituencies, to raise and discuss issues within the

EESAC’s role and areas of responsibility.

� Must provide an opportunity for members of the public to speak.

� The principal is a named member and must participate in all Council decision

making.

� Members are responsible for notifying their alternates when they are not able

to attend.

D. Agenda

� Must be available to the public.

� Is prepared by the chair.

� Should be distributed in advance to all members and posted for public

information.

� Must be developed following a clearly understood procedure by which

EESAC members may submit and non-EESAC members may suggest

agenda items.

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E. Elections

� Are required to fill all positions except the Designated Steward, the Principal,

and the business/community representatives.

� Teacher elections must be conducted by the Designated Steward and must

allow all teachers, including counselors, media specialists, permanent subs,

and part-time teachers, to choose their representatives.

� Parent elections must allow all parents to choose their representatives; a

school with an active PTA may delegate the election responsibility to the PTA

as long as all parents have an opportunity to vote.

� Support personnel, including all paraprofessional, clerical, custodial, food

service, and other non-instructional and non-administrative staff who work

at least 20 hours in a normal week must have the opportunity to elect their

representatives.

� Student elections must be conducted in all schools except those elementary

schools which do not have a 5th or 6th grade, and they must allow all students

to choose their representatives.

� Business/community representatives should be appointed after all other

positions have been filled; they provide the only opportunity to balance the

ethnic or racial composition of the EESAC.

� The chair must be elected by the full EESAC from among its members.

2. SUNSHINE LAW

� Applies to all EESAC meetings and records.

� Can be obtained from the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee.

� Requires that meetings be open to the public, that there be reasonable notice

of meetings, and that minutes of meetings be kept.

� Prohibits meetings of two (2) or more EESAC members, on any matter about

which the EESAC will take action, without a public notice.

� Prohibits the use of secret ballots.

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3. BUDGET

� Copies of the entire school budget, not just the EESAC portion, must be

provided to all members. The location of the FR0508 should be in a place

convenient to EESAC members.

� Budget training must be provided to all EESAC members; the school’s

Budget Analyst is available to provide such training.

� The EESAC portion of the budget may be spent only on programs or projects

selected by the EESAC, not to include capital improvements or any project

that has a duration of more than one (1) year.

� Budget decisions and an implementation time frame should be reflected in

the EESAC minutes.

� Internal accounting procedures must support the implementation of EESAC

decisions.

4. TRAINING AND SUPPORT

� Are available from the Office of Performance Improvement, UTD, ACCESS

Centers, and the Office of Labor Relations to provide assistance in identifying

resources and strategies necessary for the development and implementation

of the School Performance Excellence Plan or to provide professional

development activities in support of consensus decision making.

� Upon the request of the principal, UTD, or the EESAC to the EESAC Support

Committee, and upon notification of the ACCESS Assistant Superintendent,

appropriate joint support may be provided to assist in the resolution of

conflicts.

� Final intervention may be requested from the EESAC Support Committee

when support activities have been unsuccessful.

For more information:

EESAC online, http://opi.dadeschools.net

Office of Performance Improvement, 305 995-2561

Division of School Quality Improvement, 305 995-2744

Office of Labor Relations, 305 995-1497

ACCESS I, 305 687-6565 ACCESS IV, 305 642-7555

ACCESS II, 305 624-8802 ACCESS V, 305 595-7022

ACCESS III, 305 883-0403 ACCESS VI, 305 246-5934

UTD, Educational and Professional Issues 305 854-0220

Revised 4/2003

The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, adheres to a policy of

nondiscrimination in employment and educational programs/activities and

programs/activities receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department of

Education, and strives affirmatively to provide equal opportunity for all as required by:

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - prohibits discrimination on the basis of

race, color, religion, or national origin.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended - prohibits discrimination in

employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 - prohibits discrimination on the

basis of gender.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), as amended - prohibits

discrimination on the basis of age with respect to individuals who are at least 40.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963, as amended - prohibits sex discrimination in payment

of wages to women and men performing substantially equal work in the same

establishment.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - prohibits discrimination against

the disabled.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - prohibits discrimination against

individuals with disabilities in employment, public service, public accommodations

and telecommunications.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) - requires covered employers

to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to "eligible" employees for

certain family and medical reasons.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 - prohibits discrimination in

employment on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Florida Educational Equity Act (FEEA) - prohibits discrimination on the basis of

race, gender, national origin, marital status, or handicap against a student or

employee.

Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 - secures for all individuals within the state

freedom from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin,

age, handicap, or marital status.

School Board Rules 6Gx13- 4A-1.01, 6Gx13- 4A-1.32, and 6Gx13- 5D-1.10 -

prohibit harassment and/or discrimination against a student or employee on the

basis of gender, race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, political beliefs,

marital status, age, sexual orientation, social and family background, linguistic

preference, pregnancy, or disability.

Veterans are provided re-employment rights in accordance with P.L. 93-508 (Federal

Law) and Section 295.07 (Florida Statutes), which stipulate categorical preferences for

employment.

Revised 5/9/03